1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a teleconference terminal apparatus that can perform pan, tilt and zoom drive control for changing the imaging field of view of an imaging apparatus based on preregistered pan, tilt and zoom positional information and can output and transmit information on an image picked up by the imaging apparatus.
The present invention also relates to an image transmitting method applied to the teleconference terminal apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a teleconference system, terminal apparatus that support the teleconference system are provided in respective conference halls or other places remote from one another, and each of the terminal apparatus is connected to an imaging apparatus and a display apparatus. In a near-end conference hall, a picked-up image obtained by using the imaging apparatus to image conference participants or other objects in the conference hall is transmitted via the terminal apparatus to the terminal apparatus in a far-end different conference hall. The far-end terminal apparatus receives the picked-up image transmitted from the near end and displays it on the display apparatus connected to the terminal apparatus.
Each of the terminal apparatus is also connected to a microphone and a loudspeaker, and a signal containing audio from a near-end speaker picked up by the near-end microphone is transmitted to the far end via the terminal apparatus. The far-end terminal apparatus receives the audio signal and outputs it from the loudspeaker.
In such a teleconference system, the conference can proceed in such a way that conversation takes place while the display apparatus displays images picked up in the conference hall on the communication counterpart side.
In a teleconference system, the imaging field of view imaged by the imaging apparatus is preferably changed in some cases as the conference proceeds. For example, whenever a conference participant speaks, the speaking conference participant (speaker) is preferably zoomed up. In such a case, an imaging apparatus configured to carry out imaging, for example, with its imaging direction oriented toward a fixed point is unsuitable for the above purpose.
To address the above problem, there is a teleconference system in which an imaging apparatus is combined with a mounting base to perform what is called pan, tilt, and zoom control. In such a teleconference system, for example, when a new speaker appears, the imaging apparatus can image the speaker with the imaging field of view set to include the speaker by carrying out as appropriate pan, tilt, and zoom motion instruction operations.
In addition to this, there is a teleconference system having a pan, tilt, and zoom preset function in which combination patterns of pan, tilt, and zoom positions that correspond to specific imaging fields of view are set and stored (registered) in advance and the pan, tilt and zoom positional information of any one of the registered patterns is called up through a predetermined operation and set accordingly.
In this way, for example, whenever a speaker appears one after another, selecting and calling up as appropriate any of the combination patterns of pan, tilt and zoom positions allows the imaging field of view to be automatically changed in such a way that the speaker is zoomed up in a picked-up image.
JP-A-2006-238325 describes a camera system including tele/wide cameras in which when the tele-camera is controlled in terms of PTZ (pan, tilt and zoom) while displaying video images therefrom, tele-video images are clipped from wide-video images, if the wide-video images contain tele-video images, and the clipped tele-video images are enlarged or otherwise processed to be used in place of live tele-video images. The pseudo tele-video images are then switched to actual live tele-video images after the tele-camera has been moved and stopped. In this way, stable video images can be displayed and recorded during the tele-camera is moving.